Four years ago, Capel Henshaw found himself in the starting lineup for Harrisburg as a freshman.

That first game, Henshaw and the Bulldogs lost to Carmi-White County in the Harrisburg Invitational.

In only a way that true karma works out, Henshaw took the court Thursday night, needing just 12 points to become the all-time leading scorer at Harrisburg High School.

The 6-foot-3 senior guard didn't waste much time going to work, scoring 11 points in the first quarter and capping off the start of the second with a 3-pointer from the left corner pocket, receiving accolades from teammates, fans and immediate family.

The end result was a 76-37 win over Carmi-White County in the Carmi-White County Invitational and for Henshaw that's what it was all about.

"I've worked hard," Henshaw said. "But, I never set out to get the scoring record. I did set out to help the team win ballgames, but it's something that happened and something I'm proud to accomplish."

Harrisburg improved to 18-1 on the season and started a series of three games in three days at the CWCIT.

The win came on the heels of Harrisburg having to play without its leading scorer, Tyler Smithpeters, who missed the game due to an ankle injury suffered in practice on Tuesday.

Another storyline that played out for Harrisburg was how the Bulldogs were going to respond to not only Smithpeters' absence, but that of a ballclub that collectively was battling sickness all week.

"We came into this game a little short handed for sure," Harrisburg head coach Randy Smithpeters said. "Tyler was out, we knew that. "Snowy" has been sick for two days and today was his first day back at school. Eli (Taborn-Scott) has not been feeling well and went home from school today at lunch. Dakota (Upchurch) was in the locker room before the game, not feeling well.

"We knew we were on thin ice as far as who was going to be able to do what. That's basically a challenge to everyone else and that's how we approached it."

Carmi got off to a quick 2-0 start as Harrisburg's first three possessions, resulted in turnovers. Once Harrisburg regrouped, it was the downfall for Carmi as Harrisburg went on a 22-1 run and closed out the first quarter up 22-6.

Smithpeters didn't waste any time going to his bench, substituting early and often.

The longtime Bulldogs' head coach was far from disappointed with the effort.

"We wanted to see who was going to be be able to step up, produce and contribute and perhaps do things you're not necessarily familiar doing. That's a quality of a good player and a good team."

Finishing right behind Henshaw in scoring Thursday was Upchurch, who tacked on 13 points, eight of which came in the first half and propelled the quick start for the Bulldogs as they took a 44-20 lead into the locker room.

Page 2 of 2 - "We were fortunate that we were able to get off to a good start," Smithpeters said. "It gave us a cushion where we were able to substitute. We wanted to rest as many of our guys as possible, especially having to play two more games in two more days and all the sickness we have had."

Harrisburg will play Mt. Carmel tonight (Friday) at 6 p.m. in Carmi and will follow that up with a game against Mt. Vernon, Ind., Saturday evening in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs' defense had Carmi-White County in its cross hairs all night.

CWC finished 11-of-36 from the field and 3-for-20 from beyond the arc, while 18 turnovers on the night.

Harrisburg outrebounded CWC 42-27 and came away with 12 steals on the night.

"The thing that we wanted to do, the No. 1 thing on our board was to defend," Smithpeters said. "With the situation being what it was, we weren't sure how many points we were going to score. But, we knew if we defended well, it was going to take 75 points to win. I was real happy with our defense, I thought we did things we talked about and was more consciousness about what we were supposed to do and where we needed to be at on the court."